Objective: In motor skills such as hitting or catching a ball, successful performance depends on the acquisition of visual information from an approaching ball. Thus, efficient gaze behavior on the ball flight trajectory is important to hitter or ca...
Objective: In motor skills such as hitting or catching a ball, successful performance depends on the acquisition of visual information from an approaching ball. Thus, efficient gaze behavior on the ball flight trajectory is important to hitter or catcher. The goal of this study was to determine how visual search behavior and eye-head coordination were formed to acquire visual information for successful performance, and to examine the relationship between gaze behavior and swing timing in tennis volley stroke.
Methods: Eight participants were required to play a volley stroke to one of two target areas in four conditions (pre-cue & forehand volley, pre-cue & fore/backhand volley, post cue & forehand volley, and post-cue & fore/backhand volley). The data on gaze behavior and swing timing were collected using both VIA system and motion analysis system. Laser sensor was used to manipulate the cue light time for target.
Results: 1. Gaze behavior was affected by the manipulation of cue condition. Participants used a earlier first gaze shift, earlier quiet eye onset, longer quiet eye duration and longer eye-head stabilization duration in pre-cue condition than in post-cue condition. But, there was no significant effect of the manipulation of volley stroke direction on gaze behavior. Gaze behavior was also affected by shot accuracy, with a earlier first gaze shift, earlier quiet eye onset, longer quiet eye duration and longer eye-head stabilization duration during hits than misses. 2. In backswing timing, participants used a earlier initiation and slower swing in pre-cue condition and forehand volley condition, and during hits. But there was no significant effect of both the manipulation of advanced information and the shot accuracy on forwardswing timing. 3. During hits, the initiation time and movement time of backswing had a higher relation to gaze behavior, such as the first gaze shift, quiet eye onset and quiet eye duration, than misses. But the forwardswing timing had no significant correlation to gaze behavior during hits.
Conclusions: 1. The patterns of gaze behavior and swing timing depends on the type of advanced information such as cue time for target position or volley stroke direction. The timing of backswing and forwardswing also are affected differently by the types of advanced information. 2. For successful performance, a earlier first gaze shift is helpful to acquire the information on direction or velocity from the approaching ball. A earlier first gaze shift has also high correlation to a earlier quiet eye onset and a longer quiet eye duration. 3. Although information about ball flight trajectory is necessary for successful hitting performance, it is impossible to track the entire trajectory to impact moment. Thus, eye-head coordination is needed to play volley stroke around impact moment between the ball and racquet. From the results of quiet eye and eye-head stabilization in this study, it is concluded that two visual systems, eye-head system and image-retina system, are necessary for volley stroke. In addition, the fact that the correlation between quiet eye and eye-head stabilization is very low during hits, indicates that the role of eye-head stabilization works independent of quiet eye onset and duration, for successful performance.